In films like 21 Grams, Biutiful, and Babel, he revels in the misery of his characters and then contrives to make them even more miserable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of misery and pretentiousness in Birdman (which is subtitled The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) but its mostly psychosomatic—and often played for laughs, which is a new thing for Iñárritu.

Oblivion isn’t a total loss, but it is disappointing not only to see the film abandon the interesting sci-fi issues around its central love triangle, but also see it devolve into a series of hackneyed action-movie cliches — including some really insulting third-act dialogue.

We’re back again with another episode of movie reviews and financial advice. This week: Eric, Trey and Trevan are joined by Alan Rapp as they review the latest Tom Cruise vehicle, Oblivion. Fair warning: This is a scattershot podcast. That’s what happens when a movie is a thoroughly disappointing as this one was.